GOV. PATERSON was prominently mentioned on “Meet the Press” yesterday — but not the way he would have liked.

Paterson’s name was invoked during a discussion of what it would take to revive the Republican Party around the nation, and, according to former Florida GOP Congressman and MSNBC “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough, New York’s accidental governor is doing a fine job, thank you very much, helping its effort in the Empire State.

Ticking off the names of several states, including Connecticut, where he said the GOP’s fortunes are on the rise, Scarborough said, “Even New York state, thanks to David Paterson, is a state that could very well go Republican.”

What he didn’t say was, “especially if former Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani runs against Paterson” — a conclusion backed by several recent polls and privately conceded in the upper echelons of the state Democratic Party. “Paterson is the best organizing tool the Republicans have,” one of the state’s most prominent Democratic consultants told The Post.

Yet another statewide poll, from Marist College, is due out today, and while its details remained unknown last night, political insiders expect the governor’s record-low approval ratings to remain the same or decline still further.

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Paterson’s increasingly tough talk about seeking election no matter what poll numbers show isn’t being taken too seriously in Democratic circles.

“He can say whatever he wants, but everyone agrees that if David is doing anywhere nearly as poorly in six months as he’s doing right now, it will be all over for him,” said a prominent Democrat who has frequent contact with the governor. “Paterson’s challenge is to accomplish something that makes this a better state and have the public recognize that, and, until he does, he’s not going to be doing much better in the polls.”

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In a directly related event, Senate Republicans raked in “several hundreds of thousands of dollars” from nervous New York City business leaders last week at a series of Manhattan fund-raising events that left GOP leaders hopeful about next year.

“The contributors were enthusiastic because they see what’s been happening with the [record-high, record-taxing] state budget and the chaos among the Democrats over the MTA plan,” a prominent Senate Republican said.

Contributors were also told that the Senate Republicans are recruiting new candidates to run for office next year. “We recognize that it can’t be the same old type of campaign or the same old type of candidate,” the Senate Republican said.